THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated -- except for you all. (Laughter.)
Welcome. Every April, Americans sit down and fill out their tax
returns, and they find out how much of their hard-earned money is coming
here to Washington. Once the tax dollars arrive here, most Americans
have little idea of where the money goes. And today, our government is
taking steps to change that. We believe that the more we inform our
American citizens, the better our government will be.

And so in a few moments, I'll sign the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006. This bill is going to create a website
that will list the federal government's grants and contracts. It's
going to be a website that the average citizen can access and use. It
will allow Americans to log onto the Internet just to see how your money
is being spent. This bill will increase accountability and reduce
incentives for wasteful spending. I am proud to sign it into law and I
am proud to be with members of both political parties who worked hard to
get this bill to my desk.

This has been a good effort by concerned members of the House and the
Senate to say to the American people, we want to earn your trust; when
we spend your money, we want you to be able to watch us.

I want to thank Rob Portman, who is in my Cabinet, he's the Director of
the OMB, and my good friend, Clay Johnson, is the Deputy Director, for
insisting on accountability when it comes to taxpayers' money. I know
this has been a particular project -- a fond project of Clay, and I'm
glad that members of Congress got it here.

I want to thank Susan Collins, who is the Chairman of the Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. I want to thank the bill
sponsors, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, Tom Carper from Delaware, and Barack
Obama from Illinois.

I appreciate Roy Blunt, who is the Majority Whip. He's a sponsor of the
House companion bill. I also want to thank Tom Davis, who is the
Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, as well as cosponsors of
the bill, Jeb Hensarling and Randy Kuhl.

You know, we spend a lot of time and a lot of effort collecting your
money, and we should show the same amount of effort in reporting how we
spend it. Every year, the federal government issues more than $400
billion in grants, and more than $300 billion in contracts to
corporations, associations, and state and local governments. Taxpayers
have a right to know where that money is going, and you have a right to
know whether or not you're getting value for your money.

Under Clay's leadership, we launched a new system for measuring how
federal programs are doing. In other words, federal programs say, we
want to achieve this result, we're trying to figure out whether or not
they're meeting the results. In other words, it makes sense for all of
us in Washington, D.C. to say, we're a results-oriented government. I
know Henry Waxman believes that. (Laughter.) Thank you for coming.
Proud you're here, sir. I was just praising the bipartisan support that
this bill has received, and you're confirmation of that bipartisan
support. (Laughter.) Thank you, appreciate you coming.

And so we've got -- we're measuring, and we put a -- we put a website
out called ExpectMore.gov. In other words, people can go on to that
website and determine whether or not the results are being met for
programs.

And now Congress has come forth with an additional sense of
accountability here in Washington, additional way for taxpayers to
figure out whether or not we're being wise with your money. And the
Federal Funding Accountability Act -- Accountability and Transparency
Act will create a new website that will list government grants and
contracts greater than $25,000. We'll list all grants except for those
above $25,000, except for those that must remain classified for national
security reasons.

The website will allow our citizens to go online, type in the name of
any company, association, or state or locality and find out exactly what
grants and contracts they've been awarded. It will allow citizens to
call up the name and location of entities receiving federal funds, and
will provide them with the purpose of the funding, the amount of money
provided, the agency providing the funding and other relevant
information.

By allowing Americans to Google their tax dollars, this new law will
help taxpayers demand greater fiscal discipline. In other words, we're
arming our fellow citizens with the information that will enable them to
demand we do a better job -- a better job in the executive branch and
better job in the legislative branch.

Information on earmarks will no longer be hidden deep in the pages of a
federal budget bill, but just a few clicks away. This legislation will
give the American people a new tool to hold their government accountable
for spending decisions. When those decisions are made in broad
daylight, they will be wiser and they will be more restrained. This is
a good piece of legislation, and I congratulate the members here.

Recently the House made an important rule change that will also improve
transparency in the legislative process. Under the rule change, the
sponsor of each project will now be disclosed before the bills come to a
vote. This is a wise change. It will shine the light on earmarks.
It's going to help the American taxpayers know whether or not they're
getting their money's worth here in Washington.

Rule change, along with the bill I'll sign today, are important steps,
but there's more to be done. The President needs a line-item veto.
Here's the problem: I get a big bill, an important bill to my desk, and
in that bill there may be some bad spending items, some kind of last
minute cram-ins, or items that may not have seen the full light of day
during the legislative process. I then either have to accept those, or
veto a good bill. And there's a better way forward, at least the House
thought there was a better way forward in the legislative process, and
that's the line-item veto.

Under the proposal, the President can approve spending that is
necessary, red-line spending that is not, and send the wasteful and
unnecessary spending back to the Congress for an up or down vote. I
think this is an important part of making sure we have accountability
here in Washington, D.C.

I want to thank the House for passing the bill. I would hope the Senate
would take it up. We can work together to inspire confidence in the
appropriations process here in Washington. And it's in the interest of
both political parties to do so, and it's in the interest of both
branches of government to do so.

Right now, however, I have the honor of signing this new bill. It's a
bill that empowers the American taxpayer, the American citizen. And we
believe that the more transparency there is in the system, the better
the system functions on behalf of the American people.

Again, I thank the members. It's my honor now to sign the Federal
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. (Applause.)